So often viewed in her relationships with kings, consorts, and advisors, Elizabeth I is instead seen here as the product of women—the mother she lost to a political execution, the female subjects who worshipped her, and the peers and intimates who loved, nurtured, challenged, and sometimes thwarted her. Tracy Borman, chief executive of the Heritage Education Trust and a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, examines public postures of femininity in the English court, the meaning of costume and display, the power of fecundity and flirtation, and how Elizabeth herself—long viewed as the embodiment of feminism—shared prevailing views of female inferiority and schemed against her underlings' marriages and pregnancies.

"Although Elizabeth is famous for deriding her sex and flirting publicly with favorites like Robert Dudley, Borman explores how other women shaped Elizabeth's personality early on. The beheadings of both her mother, Anne Boleyn, and stepmother Katherine Howard at Henry VIII's behest, and half-sister Mary's humiliating subservience to a foreign prince, made Elizabeth wary of men and convinced her that she must remain a virgin to succeed as queen regnant. Elizabeth shared a passion for religious reform and lively discourse with her stepmother Katherine Parr while her sister Mary's inflexible Catholicism taught her to never openly commit to any single policy. Elizabeth inherited Anne Boleyn's cruelty and vindictiveness, evident in her treatment of cousins who were prettier, younger rivals to the throne: Katherine Grey, who was imprisoned until her premature death, and Mary, Queen of Scots, also imprisoned and eventually beheaded. A standout in the flood of Tudor biographies, this smart book offers a detailed exploration of Elizabeth's private relationships with her most intimate advisers and family members."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)